Telkom pushes new tech to fight cable theft
JOHANNESBURG – TELKOM, which has lost more than R200 million over the past year to cable theft, is ramping up efforts to migrate customers to wireless and fibre technologies to actively tackle syndicates involved in the crime.
This comes as the operations of cable thieves becomes more sophisticated , amounting to over 6 000 incidents of theft across Telkom’s copper network in the past year.
Telkom has successfully migrated close to 4 000 customers in cable theft hotspots to an alternative wireless product, known as Waya Waya, which does not rely on a copper network.
The new product allows customers to retain their landline numbers while also benefiting from SMS functionality and a free device.
Earlier this year, Telkom launched SA’s biggest fibre trial in which DSL customers within Telkom’s fibre footprint are being given the opportunity to upgrade their copper-based connectivity, to the more advanced fibre network, at no additional cost.
“Telkom is taking every step to ensure that our network is secure and, more importantly, that our customers receive a seamless network experience free of criminal interference,” said Telkom’s Group Executive for Communication, Jacqui O’Sullivan.
He said copper theft had become a more sophisticated crime over the past few years.
“These criminals now target our manholes armed with customised heavy duty vehicles, allowing them to hitch the cable to the vehicle and drive out kilometres of cable, cutting off thousands of customers, in a single incident,” said O’Sullivan.
– CAJ News
